Varying Facets of Existentialism

Existentialism Contextualized by Schizophrenia

The article analyzed in this assignment is Stadlen's "The simple words the people speak." This article deals with the phenomenon and question of existentialism. However, it does so from a viewpoint that considers this topic from the point-of-view of schizophrenia. In this article, the author is attempting to denote whether schizophrenia actually exists and what causes it (Stadlen, 2015). The article begins with the author quoting from a notable book about schizophrenia and existentialism, Sanity, Madness and the Family, that serves as an overview of the work as a whole. The basis of the article is a review of an evening in which certain case studies were read aloud from this book, in addition to selected excerpts from Hamlet in which the prince's mother is questioning his sanity. Sanity, Madness and the Family was comprised of the first-person narratives from young women who were diagnosed as schizophrenics and who were alienated, somewhat, from their families because of this fact (Stadlen, 2015) -- some of the most powerful of these case studies were heard by the audience in the original voices of the speakers/clients.

Additionally, there was a contemporary author who has also written about the relationships between existentialism and schizophrenia, who provided an introduction that evening. The author spends the first couple pages of this article detailing all of these facts, prior to describing his relationship with the contemporary author and her interest in the correlation between schizophrenia and existentialism. In fact, the author quotes the young woman at length and reveals her impression about the aforementioned book and the notion that schizophrenia is merely a sophisticated form of existentialism, and that an existential perspective can ultimately eradicate the entire validity of the notion of schizophrenia (Stadlen, 2015). It is this final point that is the overarching theme of the article, and which the author discusses by alluding to passages from the book and letters and works of the contemporary author (Ms. Mandel).

I actually found the basic premise of this article fascinating. Again, that premise is that by considering existentialism and existentialist perspective, one can simply overcome the concept of existentialism. Perhaps the part about this notion that resonates so well with me is that from the existential perspective, virtually all things are possible. Existentialism can validate the experiences of those that are otherwise deemed schizophrenic from society, and reveal them for what they truly are -- just individuals attempting to deal with the various circumstances that challenge their lives.

Another point of interest that helped me to really identify with this article was the description of the role that family members had in the lives of the person deemed schizophrenic. In most circumstances, people generally assume that the family members are normal and that the person who is regarded as schizophrenic is somewhat of an aberration of that family and its bloodline. However, this article actually challenges those notions and alludes to the fact that there might not necessarily be a causal relationship between one's family and one's state of mental health. Again, the very conception of existentialism can validate the so-called schizophrenic's feelings and rearrange the conventional perception of these people and their relationships to their families.